Thursday, January 24, 2008

News and good food!

Hi everyone! Thank you again for your kind words and thoughts while we were going through the loss of my brother-in-law. I have good news! First Brandie has started her own blog. All of you who wondered what her wedding dress looked like can pop over and see the little picture she has of her and Micah. The photographer is working on making the photo's right that is why you haven't seen any posted here. I hope you all go and visit. She would love visitors. She has a baby counter too! Second, we have a new addition to the family and no it isn't the grandbaby yet.

Here is our new baby! After the loss of Tilly my chiropractor and friend kept asking me if we wanted another kitty. We kept waiting giving ourselves time to grieve and just be happy with the memories of Tilly. A week ago we were asked again. Our friends, sister-in-law does animal rescue and she had this cut sweetie whom had been rescued from a home of 80, yes I typed the right number, cats. They think she is about 6 months old. Well, who couldn't fall in love with a face like this. She is wonderful. Everyone seems to be getting along. We have named her, Abby. We have already taught "Abby" to play fetch. I know most people can't believe that, but thanks to Brandie's kitty Thalia, we found out it is possible.

Isn't she the cutest little fur baby you have ever seen! She loves playing in paper sacks. Now onto the kitchen!

Bread making success! The dark loaf is called Hearty Brown Bread. This recipe was on the back of the box of my vital wheat gluten. I played with the recipe a bit so my bread machine could do the kneading and my oven the baking. The recipe calls for millet flour, which gave me the fun job of grinding some millet in my MAGIC BULLET!.

DH is so excited about that. Thank you again honey for the wonderful Christmas present. The light one is adapted from Dori's recipe over at the Bakehouse. They both turned out so good. Enjoy!

Hearty Brown Bread from my Arrowhead Mills Vital Wheat Gluten box

2 1/2 cups warm water

1 T. yeast

1/2 cup molasses

1 cup vital wheat gluten

2 3/4 cup whole wheat flour

2 T. whole wheat flour

1 cup rye flour

1/4 cup millet flour

1/4 cup sunflower seeds

1 t. sea salt

Place in your breadmaker machine according to your instruction manual. Use dough cycle for 2 lb loaf. When cycle is complete take out the dough, roll or form it into the loaf or loaves and place in oiled pans. Cover with towel and let rise until double. Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 min. I made mine in one large pan and it took the full 45 min.

When cycle is complete take out the dough, roll or form it into the loaf or loaves and place in oiled pans. Cover with towel and let rise until double. Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 min. I made mine in one large pan and it took the full 45 min.

My omniman wanted salmon the other night so I made myself tofu fish sticks. Since DH's was in the oven cooking I lightly fried mine in some olive oil. I took some frozen tofu defrosted it, pressed it, then marinated it in a mixture of tamari, water, garlic, and organic dulse granules for about 15 min or so. Once the marinating is done coat in cornmeal and either bake or lightly fry in some olive oil. I have to tell you, these were so good. DH even tried them and said, "Hey this crunchy crust is so good!" Duh! They were fried and not baked. :o) Along with this meal I made up some homemade tarter sauce with my new Magic Bullet, cooked up some brown rice and frozen baby peas! Delish!

Obsessed! I am obsessed with this salad. Simple as it may be, my taste buds have been craving it daily. Chocked full of good fats, vitamin rich greens, crisp cucumber, and plump grape tomatoes how could anyone not enjoy this! I just mix what ever greens I have on hand, toss in some cucumber, halved grape tomatoes, handful of walnuts and ripe avocado. The dressing is Asian Sesame dressing. Now that you have seen my wonderful salad I need to confess that I love this dressing, but it has corn syrup in it, which I hate. I have tried to create the dressing on my own by reading the ingredients, but have failed miserably. I might have to have a contest and see what all of you can come up with. Does that sound like fun?

Last year, my that sounds so long ago, DH and I had pizza from our local pizza house. DH, my omni man, was struck with horrible food poisoning and he vowed never to eat pizza again homemade or not. Well, the next best thing is a calzone, which in my book is just a pizza folded in half. (shh don't let DH in on that secret) lol... So I made calzones. These tasty ones are stuffed with Julie's sausage recipe, Susan's lasagna filling, and my sauce. These were a joint effort of perfection. DH was totally happy with his and I still have one left over for my lunch. I also cooked up some spaghetti for the leftover sauce. The only thing missing from this meal was the checkered table cloth, candles, and violin music. :o)

Hi Sheree. I checked out Brandy's blog. What a proud mom/ grandma you must be! You new cat is beautiful, when our "pup" had her second round of cancer we knew it was her end. DH had to have another dog within 2 weeks and in came Lucy and not long after Ricky. I'm going to be visiting my sister in San Diego in March. I'm also going to try to go the grocery store that you and Karen went to. Have any suggestions for some great places to go see or shop when I come.

When I worked in the animal rights field, I was surprised to find that there are so many animal hoarders out there and unfortunately, when the animals are rescued, a lot of them get euthanized because they're either sick or can't find homes for them. Abby is one lucky cat to get you for a mom. I'm sure that she'll get lots of attention and love in your home.

I'm sorry your husband had a bad pizza experience but I hope your calzones help him get over it.

Abby is truly beautiful. I love her in the first picture, with the marble eyes. :)

Your Magic Bullet looks really useful. Can you use in place of a food processor? It just looks so much easier to use, set up, and clean than a food processor.

Your tofu fish sticks look really good - I especially like the crunchy crust idea. I'm not a fan of anything with a "fishy" flavor (which I'm guessing is what the dulse does??) but without the dulse, the sticks look like they'd make fabulous breaded tofu fingers!!

1. congrads2. i want that kitty3. i want a magic bullet4. using this blog to convince husband he should buy me one for taking the bar exam5. now i am obsessed with that salad6. your bread looks better than mine7. i want that kitty

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The Lord can do remarkable miracles with a person of ordinary ability who is humble, faithful, and diligent in serving the Lord and seeks to improve himself. This is because God is the ultimate source of power. By the gift of the Holy Ghost we can not only know all things, but even "the truth of all things" President James E. Faust